10 Things You Need To Know This Morning

Asian markets were mostly up in overnight trading, with the Hang Seng up 2.34%. Markets have lost their early gains, Europe is sharply lower and U.S. futures are lower ahead of the open.

Italy sold €6.18 billion of bonds lower than its maximum target, including €3.5 billion of bonds due in 2016 at yield of 5.32%. Demand rose and borrowing costs fell, as the ECB supported the nation’s debt. The yield on Italy’s 10-year benchmark bond fell one basis point to 5.83% after the auction. Now here’s who will get crushed if Italy goes bust >

China’s exports rose 17.1% in September from a year ago, growing at its slowest pace in seven months. The trade surplus was $14.51 billion, the smallest since May and the customs bureau warned of severe challenges as the global economic outlook weakens. Meanwhile, the IMF cut its growth forecast for Asia to 6.3% in 2011 and attributed the slowdown to turbulence in Europe and the U.S.. Don’t Miss: Why everyone’s freaking out about China >

U.S. international trade gap widened to $45.6 billion in August and initial jobless claims increased to 404K basically in line with expectations >

In earnings news, JP Morgan posted Q3 earnings of $1.02 per share, against expectations of $0.92 per share. Meanwhile, Google is expected to post profits of $8.74 per share on revenues of $7.21 billion when it reports earnings after the closing bell. Now here are 5 things UBS has already learned from the earnings season >

Fitch is reportedly going to cut the ratings of UK banks and the FTSE is off 2.2%. The ratings agency is expected to announce a downgrade review that targets Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland. Moody’s recently slashed the ratings of 12 UK banks.

The U.S. Treasury Budget for September will be released at 2 PM. Expectations are for a deficit of $64.5 billion. Follow the release at Money Game >

Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal have received regulatory clearance from China for their A$4.9 billion for Macarthur Coal. The deal required Chinese approval because China is a major customer of pulverized coal injection (PCI) metallurgical coal, and Macarthur controls a significant share of that market.

Blackberry maker Research In Motion’s said its services across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India have improved significantly, after a three-day disruption.

German inflation increased more than expected to 2.9% in September, from 2.5% in August. Inflation was pushed up by an increase in energy costs. Meanwhile, wholesale prices rose 5.7% in September from a year ago. Check out the 15 most miserable places in the world >

BONUS – Angelina Jolie was in Misrata, Libya yesterday and praised Libyans for their extraordinary participation in the country’s revolution.